If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Superchargers are yesterday's news for the S65 V8. Yes, of course supercharger kits will forever have a place in the E9X M3 aftermarket but after riding in Gintani's turbo E90 M3 I can not stop thinking about a turbo E92 M3. I have been in some very strong supercharged M3's but the twin turbos at just 6.5-7.0 psi of boost on 91 octane pump gas (no methanol injection) make the centrifugal systems feel weak in comparison.

That is coming from someone with a supercharged M3. Perhaps I have not been in a fast car in a while but I have experienced supercharged S65 V8's and supercharged M156 63 AMG's in various states of tune from mild to wild and a turbo M3 on stock internals provided the best power delivery out of any of these cars. Plenty of torque down low and a relentless pull up top that just would not quit.

Lag? What lag. The car just pulls. Unlike the superchargers that kill the S65 V8 throttle response and torque down low the turbos pull from any rpm. Alex at Gintani took me out on the streets of Van Nuys and he flogged it more than enough to hit the point home. Maybe it was the afternoon traffic, maybe it was the tight streets, but I asked him to back off at the top of fourth gear saying no more was necessary as I got it. I have never felt a stock internal M3 pull that hard.

If you line a supercharger kit up at 7 psi and this turbo kit at 7 psi there is no doubt in my mind the turbos will crush the supercharged car. The turbos also do not drop off this thing just keeps on pulling so you are getting the best of both world's. Alex did more full throttle pulls than I needed for this to sink in.

Does this all sound too good to be true? Think I'm exaggerating? Well I intend to vote with my own wallet and will be making the switch to turbos as soon as possible. If you doubt anything written here go stop by the Gintani facility and take a ride in the car for yourself. You will reach the same conclusion I did that superchargers are this platform's past unless looking at the dollar per horsepower argument. At $18k+ the turbo kit is the most expensive forced induction option and that does not include install. Reality is with tax and installation it will be well over $20k.

It is interesting to note Gintani is the only company with a working twin turbo kit on an E9X M3 tuned on the stock DME. Where are the supposedly 'skilled' companies that early on called into question Gintani's reliability, tuning, and overall ability? Still scaring people with the same old stories just to sell kits to line their pockets. Still doing the community a disservice chasing the almighty dollar above all else. That, while Gintani is building cars that scare you with their acceleration and not with contrived forum stories to sway sales.

Pictures of the installed kit (BimmerBoost is not allowed to post pictures of the manifolds and turbos at this time) are below. Unfortunately, I did not take the camera in the car during the test drive but I will do a more in depth visit next month with in car videos and hopefully some dyno numbers. I do have a video of the sounds which you simply have to hear the turbos whistling in person to fully appreciate. Eliminating the parasitic loss from driving the supercharger sure feels like it freed up a good amount of power. Honestly, you do not need more than this to have absurd amounts of fun in an M3 unless you have something to prove with huge raw numbers. Or are the administrator of BimmerBoost.com. Or both.

Try the turbos and you will fall in love with the M3 all over again. I did.

It's nice to see that Gintani has steered clear of any internet drama as of late and is focusing on innovating and doing what they love. The boards can be a double-edged sword for sure! Good luck to them!

Excluding Injectors, is the Stock Motor kit running a factory fuel system? At what point is an aftermarket fuel system necessary? I know with the stock motor 650 BHP supercharger kits, fueling is pretty tapped out so E85 tuning on the stock motor might be too much for the factory fuel system.

Can the Turbo Manifold be mated to the current X-Pipe options? Or is a TT-kit specific midpipe necessary?

How is the DCT responding to the new, significant increase in low-end TQ? I assume this would require exclusive Gintani software to avoid fault codes/limp modes during WOT pulls.

Thanks in advance, congrats on bringing the TT-S65 one step closer to public release.